WO2021117277A1 - Programme de support, dispositif de traitement d'informations et procédé d'impression - Google Patents

Programme de support, dispositif de traitement d'informations et procédé d'impression Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2021117277A1
WO2021117277A1 PCT/JP2020/025803 JP2020025803W WO2021117277A1 WO 2021117277 A1 WO2021117277 A1 WO 2021117277A1 JP 2020025803 W JP2020025803 W JP 2020025803W WO 2021117277 A1 WO2021117277 A1 WO 2021117277A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
printer
program
print
information processing
printing
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Application number
PCT/JP2020/025803
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English (en)
Japanese (ja)
Inventor
仁人 細溝
Original Assignee
ブラザー工業株式会社
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by ブラザー工業株式会社 filed Critical ブラザー工業株式会社
Priority to CN202080084738.4A priority Critical patent/CN114846440A/zh
Priority to US17/215,094 priority patent/US11775230B2/en
Publication of WO2021117277A1 publication Critical patent/WO2021117277A1/fr

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/12—Digital output to print unit, e.g. line printer, chain printer
    • G06F3/1201—Dedicated interfaces to print systems
    • G06F3/1202—Dedicated interfaces to print systems specifically adapted to achieve a particular effect
    • G06F3/1203—Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. print management
    • G06F3/1208—Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. print management resulting in improved quality of the output result, e.g. print layout, colours, workflows, print preview
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J29/00—Details of, or accessories for, typewriters or selective printing mechanisms not otherwise provided for
    • B41J29/38—Drives, motors, controls or automatic cut-off devices for the entire printing mechanism
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J29/00—Details of, or accessories for, typewriters or selective printing mechanisms not otherwise provided for
    • B41J29/38—Drives, motors, controls or automatic cut-off devices for the entire printing mechanism
    • B41J29/393—Devices for controlling or analysing the entire machine ; Controlling or analysing mechanical parameters involving printing of test patterns
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/12—Digital output to print unit, e.g. line printer, chain printer
    • G06F3/1201—Dedicated interfaces to print systems
    • G06F3/1223—Dedicated interfaces to print systems specifically adapted to use a particular technique
    • G06F3/1224—Client or server resources management
    • G06F3/1228—Printing driverless or using generic drivers
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/12—Digital output to print unit, e.g. line printer, chain printer
    • G06F3/1201—Dedicated interfaces to print systems
    • G06F3/1223—Dedicated interfaces to print systems specifically adapted to use a particular technique
    • G06F3/1229—Printer resources management or printer maintenance, e.g. device status, power levels
    • G06F3/1232—Transmitting printer device capabilities, e.g. upon request or periodically
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/12—Digital output to print unit, e.g. line printer, chain printer
    • G06F3/1201—Dedicated interfaces to print systems
    • G06F3/1223—Dedicated interfaces to print systems specifically adapted to use a particular technique
    • G06F3/1229—Printer resources management or printer maintenance, e.g. device status, power levels
    • G06F3/1234—Errors handling and recovery, e.g. reprinting
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/12—Digital output to print unit, e.g. line printer, chain printer
    • G06F3/1201—Dedicated interfaces to print systems
    • G06F3/1223—Dedicated interfaces to print systems specifically adapted to use a particular technique
    • G06F3/1237—Print job management
    • G06F3/1244—Job translation or job parsing, e.g. page banding
    • G06F3/1247—Job translation or job parsing, e.g. page banding by conversion to printer ready format
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/12—Digital output to print unit, e.g. line printer, chain printer
    • G06F3/1201—Dedicated interfaces to print systems
    • G06F3/1278—Dedicated interfaces to print systems specifically adapted to adopt a particular infrastructure
    • G06F3/1285—Remote printer device, e.g. being remote from client or server

Definitions

  • the technical fields disclosed herein relate to support programs, information processing devices, and printing methods that support printer control.
  • a printer driver transmits a calibration command to the image forming device, and the image forming device executes the operation.
  • a configuration is known in which an image adjustment of print data is performed using the result of a calibration process.
  • OS general-purpose printing program built into an operating system
  • the OS when it detects a printer, it associates with the OS standard general-purpose print program, and when it subsequently receives a print instruction for the printer, it prints with the OS standard general-purpose print program without using a printer driver. Becomes possible.
  • This specification discloses a technique for reducing variations in print quality due to printer-specific characteristics in an information processing device incorporating an OS-standard general-purpose print program.
  • the support program made for the purpose of solving the above-mentioned problems is a support program that can be executed by a computer of the information processing device and is used for printing by a printer connected to the information processing device.
  • the acquisition process of acquiring the characteristic data showing the characteristic peculiar to the computer from the printer, and the storage process of storing the characteristic data acquired in the acquisition process in the memory of the information processing apparatus are executed. Further, when the computer is instructed to print an image by the printer for a general-purpose printing program preliminarily incorporated in the operating system of the information processing apparatus, the computer is subject to printing according to the printing instruction.
  • the correction print data generation process for generating the correction print data corrected based on the characteristic data stored in the memory and the correction print data generated by the correction print data generation process are generated by the printer. It is characterized in that an output process for outputting data is executed so that the data is transmitted from the information processing apparatus as a transmission destination.
  • the information processing apparatus when the information processing apparatus acquires printer-specific characteristic data from the printer and receives a print instruction for the general-purpose print program 41, the information processing apparatus is based on the acquired characteristic data. Generate corrected correction print data. If the printer executes printing based on the corrected print data, an image corrected with the characteristics peculiar to the printer is printed. As a result, even if the printing instruction is given to the general-purpose printing program 41, it is possible to suppress variations in printing quality due to the characteristics peculiar to the printer.
  • An information processing device in which the above program is incorporated, a storage medium that can be read by a computer that stores the program, and a control method for realizing the function of the program are also new and useful.
  • PC personal computer
  • the PC 1 of this embodiment includes a controller 10, a user interface (hereinafter referred to as "UI") 20, and a communication interface (hereinafter referred to as "communication IF") 30. ..
  • the UI 20 and the communication IF 30 are electrically connected to the controller 10.
  • PC1 is an example of an information processing device.
  • the printer 2 is a device having a printing function, and is connected to the PC 1 via local communication or network communication.
  • the UI 20 includes hardware that performs various displays and accepts user's instruction input.
  • the UI 20 may be a touch panel having both a display function and an input reception function, or may be a combination of a display having a display function and a keyboard, a mouse, or the like having an input reception function.
  • the communication IF30 includes hardware for communicating with an external device such as a printer 2 and hardware for accessing the Internet.
  • the communication IF 30 may include a plurality of interfaces having different communication methods. Communication methods include, for example, network communication and USB communication. Further, it may be wired communication or wireless communication.
  • the controller 10 includes a CPU 11 and a memory 12.
  • the CPU 11 is an example of a computer.
  • the memory 12 includes a ROM, a RAM, and a non-volatile memory, and stores programs such as various application programs (hereinafter referred to as “applications”) and various data.
  • An example of the memory 12 may be a computer-readable storage medium.
  • the CPU 11 executes various processes according to the program read from the memory 12 and based on the user's instruction. Note that the controller 10 in FIG. 1 is a general term for hardware and software used for controlling the PC 1, and does not necessarily represent a single hardware that actually exists in the PC 1.
  • the memory 12 stores an OS 21 including a general-purpose printing program 41, an auxiliary program 42, and an editing application 43.
  • the auxiliary program 42 is an example of a support program.
  • the editing application 43 is an example of an application program.
  • OS21 is, for example, Microsoft Windows (registered trademark), macOS (registered trademark), and Linux (registered trademark).
  • various data including information on the connected printer 2 and various programs such as a browser are stored in the memory 12.
  • the general-purpose printing program 41 is an OS standard program for causing various printers such as the printer 2 to execute printing according to an instruction from the PC 1.
  • the general-purpose printing program 41 of the present embodiment is a program including a function of generating print data used for printing by a corresponding printer based on image data to be printed.
  • the general-purpose printing program 41 supports a function that can be commonly used by a plurality of types of printers provided by various printer vendors.
  • the general-purpose printing program 41 does not correspond to all the functions uniquely provided by various printers, and the supporting functions are limited to general-purpose ones.
  • the auxiliary program 42 is a program or a group of programs that executes the process based on the instruction from the OS 21 in association with the process of the general-purpose print program 41, and is an application that supports the control of the target hardware.
  • the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment corresponds to the model of the printer 2 connected to the PC 1.
  • the general-purpose printing program 41 is used to receive an instruction to cause the printer 2 to perform printing
  • the general-purpose program 42 is general-purpose. It is started from the print program 41.
  • the auxiliary program 42 is called, for example, a hardware support application (abbreviation, HSA).
  • the auxiliary program 42 receives a plurality of types of instructions from the general-purpose printing program 41, and executes various processes based on the received instructions.
  • the auxiliary program 42 can execute different processes according to the content of the execution instruction from the general-purpose printing program 41.
  • the auxiliary program 42 may be a combination of a plurality of programs, each of which receives an execution instruction, or may be a single program that can execute different processes according to the instruction.
  • the auxiliary program may be a program prepared for each printer type by the printer vendor. For example, an auxiliary program for an inkjet printer and an auxiliary program for a laser printer are prepared.
  • the printer vendor registers the auxiliary program on the platform provided by the OS21 vendor according to the procedure specified by the OS21 vendor.
  • the OS21 downloads the auxiliary program from the server in which the auxiliary program is stored and incorporates the auxiliary program into the PC1.
  • the OS 21 associates the identification information of the incorporated auxiliary program with the printer information of the newly connected printer and stores it in the memory 12.
  • the editing application 43 is, for example, an application for creating and editing image data and document data.
  • the editing application 43 is, for example, Microsoft Word or PowerPoint.
  • the editing application 43 may be an application provided by a vendor such as the printer 2.
  • the editing application 43 accepts a user operation including an instruction to cause the printer 2 to perform a predetermined operation. Specifically, the editing application 43 receives, for example, a print execution instruction for causing the printer 2 to execute printing via the UI 20.
  • the printer 2 connected to the PC 1 of this embodiment has unique characteristic data.
  • the characteristic data is a value unique to each printer and is stored in the printer 2 in advance.
  • the characteristic data includes, for example, a head characteristic value.
  • the head characteristic value is a value based on mechanical misalignment of a plurality of ink ejection ports included in the head of the printer 2 and ejection variation (for example, variation in ejection speed and ejection direction). If there is a mechanical misalignment or ejection variation of multiple ink ejection ports, the effect may appear on the print result.
  • the printer 2 acquires characteristic data of its own device by inspection before shipment and stores it in the memory of its own device.
  • the head characteristic value is a value that does not change after shipment, but the characteristic data may be a value that changes due to environmental changes or aging deterioration after shipment.
  • the characteristic data includes, for example, a gamma correction value, a color shift correction value, and a color correction value.
  • These correction values are values for adjusting the arrangement of each color and the balance of hues when printing a color image, and are values that change depending on the environment and aging after shipment.
  • printers 2 have a configuration for executing a calibration process for acquiring characteristic data. Such a printer 2 can acquire the latest characteristic data at that time by executing the calibration process.
  • the printer 2 executes a calibration process in response to a command received from the PC 1 or the like, and stores the acquired characteristic data in the memory of its own device.
  • the printer 2 may transmit the acquired characteristic data to the PC 1 or the like that has transmitted the command. Further, the printer 2 may accept the manual input of the characteristic data by the user and store the input characteristic data.
  • Each processing step of the processing and the flowchart in the embodiment basically indicates the processing of the CPU 11 according to the instruction described in the program such as the auxiliary program 42.
  • the processing by the CPU 11 also includes hardware control using the API of the OS 21.
  • the operation of each program will be described by omitting the detailed description of the OS 21.
  • acquisition is used as a concept that does not require a request.
  • the auxiliary program 42 acquires the characteristic data stored in the printer 2 via the OS 21.
  • the OS 21 executes the characteristic data acquisition procedure as shown in FIG.
  • the OS 21 executes the characteristic data acquisition procedure at the first execution of the installed auxiliary program 42.
  • the OS 21 detects that the auxiliary program 42 has been installed on the PC 1, the auxiliary program 42 may be executed to execute the characteristic data acquisition procedure, or the auxiliary program 42 may be activated from another application or the like (not shown).
  • the characteristic data acquisition procedure may be executed if it is the first execution of the auxiliary program 42.
  • the OS 21 executes the characteristic data acquisition procedure for the printer. It is good to do it. Further, the OS 21 may execute the characteristic data acquisition procedure when the user's instruction to acquire the characteristic data is received via the UI 20.
  • the OS 21 passes an execution instruction to the auxiliary program 42 to operate the auxiliary program 42 (arrow A).
  • the auxiliary program 42 determines that it is necessary to acquire the characteristic data, it communicates with the printer 2 via the communication IF 30 and transmits a signal requesting the characteristic data stored in the printer 2 (arrow B).
  • the printer 2 Based on the received signal, the printer 2 reads out the characteristic data stored in the memory of its own device (arrow C) and returns it to the auxiliary program 42 (arrow D).
  • the auxiliary program 42 acquires the characteristic data transmitted from the printer 2 by the arrow D.
  • the process of the arrow D is an example of the acquisition process.
  • the auxiliary program 42 may directly communicate with the printer 2 by using, for example, MIB (abbreviation of Management Information Base), or OS21. You may go through.
  • MIB abbreviation of Management Information Base
  • OS21 abbreviation of Management Information Base
  • the auxiliary program 42 and the printer 2 perform communication according to the communication rules of the OS 21 such as IPP (abbreviation of internet printing protocol).
  • the auxiliary program 42 stores the acquired characteristic data in the memory 12 (arrow E).
  • the processing of the arrow E is an example of the storage processing.
  • the auxiliary program 42 associates the acquired characteristic data with the identification information of the printer 2 and stores the acquired characteristic data in a storage area available by the auxiliary program 42. After writing the characteristic data, the auxiliary program 42 may be terminated once.
  • the PC 1 can read the characteristic data from the memory 12 and use it during the subsequent printing operation. In this case, as compared with the case where the characteristic data is received from the printer 2 every time the printing operation is performed, the chance of acquiring the characteristic data is small and the communication load is small. It is particularly suitable when the characteristic data is data that does not depend on changes in the environment, for example, data stored in the memory of the printer 2 in a pre-shipment inspection such as a mechanical misalignment amount. ..
  • an example of the printing procedure including the operation of the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG.
  • an application that receives a print instruction such as an editing application 43 causes the printer 2 to print using the general-purpose printing program 41.
  • the operation when the print execution instruction is received and the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the printer 2 is incorporated in the PC1 is shown.
  • the editing application 43 passes the received print execution instruction information to the OS 21.
  • the OS 21 receives an instruction to execute printing using the general-purpose printing program 41
  • the OS 21 executes the general-purpose printing program 41 and passes the printing instruction to the general-purpose printing program 41 (arrow G).
  • the general-purpose printing program 41 can acquire various information, for example, information indicating a printer to be printed, information indicating printing settings set by an application, and information indicating image data to be printed, by printing instructions.
  • the general-purpose print program 41 generates intermediate image data by converting the format of the image data included in the received print instruction into the format of the intermediate image data, and generates a print job including the intermediate image data (arrow H).
  • the image data included in the editing application 43 is of various types, and the general-purpose printing program 41 converts the received image data into intermediate image data suitable for generating print data. If the image data included in the print instruction is data suitable for generating the print data, the generation of the intermediate image data may be omitted and the intermediate image data may be used as it is.
  • the intermediate image data is, for example, XPS data.
  • the general-purpose printing program 41 may execute the auxiliary program 42 before generating the intermediate image data.
  • the auxiliary program 42 may receive information indicating the print settings included in the print instruction from the general-purpose print program 41, edit a part of the information, and return the information to the general-purpose print program 41.
  • the general-purpose print program 41 issues an instruction to execute the process of the auxiliary program 42 because the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the printer 2 is stored in the memory 12.
  • the output is output, the auxiliary program 42 is operated, and the generated intermediate image data is passed to the auxiliary program 42 (arrow I).
  • the arrow I passes the print setting information as well as the intermediate image data to the auxiliary program 42.
  • the print setting information passed to the auxiliary program by the arrow I may be all the print setting information received by the general-purpose print program 41 in the print instruction of the arrow G, or the general-purpose print program 41 does not correspond. It may be information only.
  • the auxiliary program 42 reads the characteristic data of the printer 2 from the memory 12 (arrow J).
  • the auxiliary program 42 executes rasterization based on the received intermediate image data and generates print data (arrow K).
  • the processing of the arrow K is an example of the generation processing.
  • the auxiliary program 42 rasterizes the intermediate image data to generate print data.
  • the print data generated by the arrow K is data in a format that can be used for printing by the printer 2, and is, for example, PDL data dedicated to the model of the printer 2.
  • the print data generated by the arrow K may be data in a format that can be used for printing with a printer other than the model of the printer 2.
  • the auxiliary program 42 corrects the print data generated by the arrow K (arrow L) using the characteristic data read by the arrow J, and generates the corrected print data.
  • the processing of the arrow L is an example of the correction processing.
  • the auxiliary program 42 corrects using the characteristic data of the printer 2, the corrected print data capable of canceling the variation due to the characteristic peculiar to the printer 2 is generated.
  • the auxiliary program 42 may execute the processing of the arrow K and the processing of the arrow L at the same time. That is, the auxiliary program 42 may generate the corrected print data, which is the corrected print data, by adding the correction by the characteristic data when rasterizing the intermediate image data.
  • the process of simultaneously executing the process of the arrow K and the process of the arrow L is an example of the correction print data generation process.
  • the general-purpose print program 41 may generate the print data. That is, the general-purpose print program 41 rasterizes the intermediate image data generated by the arrow H to generate print data, and passes the generated print data to the auxiliary program 42.
  • the auxiliary program 42 can generate corrected print data by correcting the print data received from the general-purpose print program 41 based on the characteristic data read by the arrow J.
  • the rasterization process by the general-purpose printing program 41 is different from the rasterization process by the auxiliary program.
  • the print data generated by the general-purpose print program 41 is print data in a format that can be used for printing by various printers, and is, for example, PWGRaster data or PDF data. If rasterization is performed by the general-purpose printing program 41, the processing of the auxiliary program 42 is small, and the design man-hours of the auxiliary program 42 can be suppressed. If the general-purpose print program 41 can generate print data from the image data included in the print instruction without using the intermediate image data, the process of generating the intermediate image data of the arrow H may not be necessary.
  • the auxiliary program 42 may correct the intermediate image data. Even if the auxiliary program 42 corrects the intermediate image data received from the general-purpose printing program 41 by the arrow I based on the characteristic data read by the arrow J and generates the print data based on the corrected intermediate image data. good. Even in this way, the corrected print data corrected based on the characteristic data is generated. Further, the corrected intermediate image data may be passed to the general-purpose printing program 41 and rasterized by the general-purpose printing program 41.
  • the auxiliary program 42 transmits the generated correction print data to the printer 2 together with the print execution command (arrow M).
  • the processing of the arrow M is an example of output processing.
  • the general-purpose printing program 41 may perform transmission to the printer 2. That is, the auxiliary program 42 may pass the correction print data generated by the arrow L to the general-purpose print program 41 so as to be transmitted from the PC 1 with the printer 2 as the transmission destination.
  • the general-purpose print program 41 transmits the correction print data received from the auxiliary program 42 to the printer 2.
  • the process in which the auxiliary program 42 passes the correction print data to the general-purpose print program 41 is an example of the output process.
  • the printer that has received the correction print data and the print execution command prints the image of the correction print data based on the received print execution command. Since the corrected print data is the print data corrected based on the characteristic data of the printer 2, the correction by the printer 2 is not necessary or necessary, and the printed matter generated by the printer 2 is a printer. The deviation due to the characteristics peculiar to 2 is canceled out.
  • the characteristic data peculiar to the printer is acquired from the printer 2 in advance, and when the general-purpose printing program 41 is instructed to print, the characteristics are obtained. Corrected print data is generated using the data, and the corrected print data is output to the printer 2. As a result, an image suitable for each printer is printed. As a result, variations in print quality due to printer-specific characteristics can be suppressed.
  • the characteristic data acquisition procedure including the operation of the auxiliary program 42 of the second form will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG.
  • the timing for executing the acquisition of characteristic data is different from that in the first embodiment.
  • the same processing as in the first embodiment is designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.
  • the editing application 43 accepts a user's instruction to open a menu related to printing (arrow N).
  • the editing application 43 accepts, for example, selection of a printer, selection of print settings, selection of image data to be printed, and an instruction to execute printing.
  • the editing application 43 receives a printer search instruction for selecting a printer by a user operation (arrow O)
  • the editing application 43 requests information on a list of selectable printers from the general-purpose printing program 41 (arrow P).
  • the editing application 43 acquires the printer list information from the general-purpose printing program 41 (arrow Q), and displays the printer list on the UI 20 (arrow R).
  • the editing application 43 accepts the printer selection by the user operation in the displayed list (arrow S).
  • the editing application 43 may be able to accept an instruction to execute calibration in addition to an instruction to select a printer. In this embodiment, the case where the printer 2 is selected will be described.
  • the editing application 43 passes information indicating that the printer 2 has been selected to the general-purpose printing program 41 (arrow T).
  • the general-purpose print program 41 When the selected device is the printer 2, the general-purpose print program 41 outputs an execution command for processing of the auxiliary program 42 because the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the printer 2 is stored in the memory 12, and the auxiliary program 41 outputs the execution command. 42 is operated (arrow U).
  • the execution instruction passed from the general-purpose printing program 41 includes information indicating the selected printer.
  • the auxiliary program 42 communicates with the printer 2 which is the selected printer based on the execution command from the general-purpose printing program 41, and transmits a command instructing the execution of the calibration process to the printer 2 (arrow V). ..
  • the auxiliary program 42 of the present embodiment causes the printer 2 to execute the calibration process when the information indicating that the printer 2 has been selected is received from the general-purpose printing program 41.
  • the printer 2 When the printer 2 receives a command instructing execution of the calibration process, the printer 2 executes the calibration process (arrow W), acquires characteristic data as a result, and stores the acquired characteristic data in the memory of its own device. (Arrow X). Further, the printer 2 transmits the acquired characteristic data to the PC 1 instructed to execute the calibration process (arrow D). As a result, the auxiliary program 42 acquires the characteristic data.
  • the process of arrow D in FIG. 4 is an example of the acquisition process.
  • the auxiliary program 42 stores the acquired characteristic data in the memory 12 (arrow E), as in the example of FIG.
  • the processing of the arrow E is an example of the storage processing.
  • the auxiliary program 42 of the second form also enables printing of an image suitable for each printer by using the characteristic data peculiar to the printer as in the first form. ..
  • the printer 2 when the printer 2 is selected, the printer 2 is instructed to execute the calibration process. Therefore, when the possibility that the printing is executed by the printer 2 increases, the latest characteristic data at that time is obtained. Can be obtained.
  • This embodiment is particularly suitable when the characteristic data is data that changes with changes in the environment or the passage of time.
  • the printer 2 is made to execute the calibration process when the printer 2 is selected, but the execution timing of the calibration process is not limited to this. For example, it may be executed when the printer to execute printing is changed from another printer, or it may be executed when an instruction to execute calibration is received by the user. Further, when the printer is selected, the characteristic data stored in the printer 2 may be received from the printer 2 instead of executing the calibration process.
  • the procedure of acquiring characteristic data and executing printing, including the operation of the auxiliary program 42 of the third form, will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG.
  • the timing of acquiring characteristic data from the printer 2 is different from that of the first embodiment and the second embodiment.
  • the same processing as in the first form and the second form is designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.
  • the general-purpose printing program 41 generates intermediate image data in response to input of a print execution instruction by the user in the editing application 43.
  • the general-purpose printing program 41 outputs an execution command of the auxiliary program 42, and passes the generated intermediate image data to the auxiliary program 42.
  • the auxiliary program 42 receives the execution command of the arrow I and acquires the characteristic data in the same manner as the arrows B to E shown in FIG. That is, the auxiliary program 42 communicates with the printer 2 via the communication IF 30 and requests the characteristic data stored in the printer 2 (arrow B). The printer 2 reads out the characteristic data stored in the memory of its own device (arrow C) and returns it to the auxiliary program 42 (arrow D). The auxiliary program 42 acquires the characteristic data transmitted from the printer 2 with the arrow D, and stores the acquired characteristic data in the memory 12 (arrow E). Also in this embodiment, the processing of the arrow D is an example of the acquisition processing, and the processing of the arrow E is an example of the storage processing.
  • the auxiliary program 42 performs the same processing as the arrows J to M shown in FIG. That is, the auxiliary program 42 generates correction print data based on the received intermediate image data, and transmits the generated correction print data to the printer 2. Also in this embodiment, the processing of the arrow K and the arrow L is an example of the correction print data generation processing, and the processing of the arrow M is an example of the output processing. The correction may be performed on the intermediate image data, or may be performed on the print data after the print data is generated. In this embodiment as well, the printer 2 may be made to execute the calibration process.
  • the auxiliary program 42 acquires the characteristic data from the printer 2 after receiving the execution instruction based on the print instruction from the general-purpose print program 41 and before generating the correction print data.
  • the print data may be generated by the general-purpose printing program 41.
  • the timing at which the auxiliary program 42 acquires the characteristic data is not limited to after receiving the intermediate image data and the print data, but also after the auxiliary program 42 is executed in response to a print instruction using the general-purpose print program 41. Just do it.
  • characteristic data is acquired each time a print instruction is received, there is a concern that the time from the input of the print instruction to the output of the printed matter on the first page will be long. Therefore, a condition for acquiring characteristic data may be further added. For example, it may be used for printing instructions when the elapsed time from the previous acquisition is a predetermined time or longer. Alternatively, it may be the first printing instruction of the day. Alternatively, if the configuration is such that an option for whether or not to update the characteristic data can be added to the print instruction, the print instruction may be used when the option is added. Alternatively, it may be executed when the characteristic data corresponding to the printer to be printed is not stored in the memory 12.
  • the auxiliary program 42 of the third form As described in detail above, even by the auxiliary program 42 of the third form, as in the first form and the second form, the image suitable for each printer using the characteristic data peculiar to the printer is used. Printing becomes possible.
  • the characteristic data is acquired after receiving the print instruction, there is a high possibility that the latest data can be acquired.
  • the device connected to the PC 1 is not limited to a printer, and may be a device having a printing function such as a multifunction device, a copying machine, or a fax machine.
  • the number of printers connected to the PC 1 is not limited to the illustrated example, and may be two or more.
  • auxiliary program 42 only the printing operation using the characteristic data is described in detail as the operation of the auxiliary program 42, but the auxiliary program 42 may have another role.
  • the module that executes the operation of acquiring the characteristic data is not limited to the auxiliary program 42, and may be any program that receives instructions from the OS 21 or the general-purpose printing program 41 when printing using the general-purpose printing program 41.
  • a print workflow application Print workflow
  • Microsoft whose specifications have been released by Microsoft may be used.
  • the execution timing of the auxiliary program 42 is not limited to the example of the embodiment. For example, it may be directly instructed to be executed by the OS 21 and executed, or it may be a resident auxiliary program 42. When it is resident, the auxiliary program 42 may perform the above-described operation in response to the execution instruction.
  • the plurality of processes in any plurality of steps can be arbitrarily changed in the execution order or executed in parallel as long as the processing contents do not conflict with each other.
  • the process disclosed in the embodiment may be executed by a single CPU, a plurality of CPUs, hardware such as an ASIC, or a combination thereof.
  • the process disclosed in the embodiment can be realized in various aspects such as a recording medium or a method in which a program for executing the process is recorded.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Quality & Reliability (AREA)
  • Accessory Devices And Overall Control Thereof (AREA)

Abstract

Le but de la présente invention est de fournir une technologie pour réduire une fluctuation de la qualité d'impression due à des caractéristiques uniques à une imprimante dans un dispositif de traitement d'informations dans lequel un programme d'impression à usage général standard de système d'exploitation est installé. Selon un programme de support (42) utilisé pour effectuer une impression dans une imprimante (2) connectée à un PC (1), le PC (1) acquiert des données de caractéristiques présentant des caractéristiques uniques à l'imprimante (2) à partir de l'imprimante (2) et mémorise les données de caractéristiques acquises dans une mémoire (12). De plus, lorsqu'une instruction d'impression pour amener l'imprimante (2) à imprimer une image est délivrée à un programme d'impression à usage général (41) installé dans un système d'exploitation (21) à l'avance, le PC (1) génère des données d'impression de correction corrigées sur la base des données de caractéristiques mémorisées dans la mémoire (12) pour l'image à imprimer selon l'instruction d'impression et délivre les données d'impression de correction générées de façon à être transmises du PC (1) à l'imprimante (2) qui est une destination de transmission.
PCT/JP2020/025803 2019-12-12 2020-07-01 Programme de support, dispositif de traitement d'informations et procédé d'impression WO2021117277A1 (fr)

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CN202080084738.4A CN114846440A (zh) 2019-12-12 2020-07-01 支援程序、信息处理装置以及印刷方法
US17/215,094 US11775230B2 (en) 2019-12-12 2021-03-29 Non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, information processing device, and printing method for controlling a printer from an information processing device

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JP2019224711A JP7540148B2 (ja) 2019-12-12 2019-12-12 サポートプログラム、情報処理装置、および印刷方法
JP2019-224711 2019-12-12

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JP2023106716A (ja) 2022-01-21 2023-08-02 ブラザー工業株式会社 サポートプログラム
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JP2023147713A (ja) * 2022-03-30 2023-10-13 ブラザー工業株式会社 サポートプログラム
JP2023158309A (ja) 2022-04-18 2023-10-30 キヤノン株式会社 情報処理装置、情報処理装置の制御方法ならびにプログラム

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CN114846440A (zh) 2022-08-02
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US11775230B2 (en) 2023-10-03
US20210216254A1 (en) 2021-07-15

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